Jazz great Dave Brubeck died Wednesday, a day before his 92nd birthday. A letter in the digital collections of the University of the Pacific suggests Brubeck played the first integrated concert at the University of Alabama in 1964. (File)

Last week, following the death of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, AL.com highlighted a letter written to Brubeck stating that he played the first concert with an integrated audience at the University of Alabama.

Following that story, a reader e-mailed AL.com to say he attended Brubeck's concert. His description is of interest to any jazz fan. Brubeck, the reader said, treated the concert like any other concert -- the integrated crowd was no big deal.

The reader's e-mail shed some light on Brubeck's methods, his interesting time signatures, and even his setlist from that concert.

"I wanted to put in writing what I stated to you on the
plane: that the Sunday afternoon program presented by you and your musicians
was the first time that the box office at our main auditorium had been
integrated," Rowand wrote.

According to Rowand's letter, the show, which featured an integrated band and integrated audience, went on despite (ultimately empty) threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

David Vest said in an e-mail that he attended that 1964 concert. Vest, a blues pianist in Canada who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., said Brubeck treated the concert like "no big deal," even though it was:

"Thank
you for writing the article about the Dave Brubeck Quartet's groundbreaking
appearance at the University of Alabama. I attended that concert, and from what
I remember, you got the story right. There can be no doubt that many in the
audience that day were attending their first racially-mixed concert. It was a
very big deal, underscored by the way Brubeck and his combo made it seem like
it was 'no big deal.'

This November 2006 photo shows jazz composer Dave Brubeck at his home in Wilton, Conn. Brubeck died Wednesday morning, Dec. 5, 2012, of heart failure after being stricken while on his way to a cardiology appointment with his son Darius. Brubeck would have turned 92 on Thursday, Dec. 6 (AP Photo/The Hour Newspapers, Alex von Kleydorff)

They played some tunes from his most recent release, 'Time
Changes' (a great album, in my opinion), including 'World's Fair' in 13/4 time.
After the show, Brubeck came down into the audience to meet people. I got a
chance to ask him about that song. I wanted to know how he 'thought'
in 13/4 while he was playing it, and how on earth he and his band managed to
swing in such unconventional meter.

'What's unconventional about it?' he replied. 'Haven't
you ever heard the cheerleaders at a high school football game? Rah! Rah! Rah,
rah, rah! One two three, one two three, one two three four, one two three.'

I'll never forget the way he smiled as he beat out the
rhythm on his knees to explain it all, or the fact that he stayed in the
auditorium until he had answered every question that any student wanted to ask
him. Not a single question had anything to do with what color anyone was. After
hearing such music, we all had much more important things on our minds.

The
presence of an integrated musical act at that point in Alabama's history spoke
so eloquently that nothing else needed to be said. Brubeck and his band filled
the hall with hope as well as music.

Sincerely,

David
Vest

(Alabama
native, Canadian resident)

When asked if we could share his story, Vest wrote back and provided this tidbit.

"I
should add that I especially appreciated the fact that he didn't patronize the
audience. Rather than running through a 'greatest hits' and 'recognizable standards' set list, he came right at us with his
latest, most adventurous music. (But he did play 'Take Five' and 'Blue Rondo ala Turk.')"